Times columnist Helene Elliott rates the pluses and minuses in the NHL from the past week:

+ By scoring three times against the Philadelphia Flyers last Saturday, New Jersey forward Jaromir Jagr became the oldest NHL player to record a hat trick, at 42 years, 322 days. And he did it wearing new skates right out of the box, without a breaking-in period. With 714 career goals, Jagr is three behind Phil Esposito, who is fifth on the career goals list.

+ Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators and Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames are competing in a two-man race for rookie of the year. The well-rounded Forsberg on Sunday tied the franchise record for a rookie with his 37th point in 38 games, with 14 goals and 23 assists; the dynamic Gaudreau has 13 goals and 31 points in 39 games.

+ Montreal's Carey Price became the fifth goalie in Montreal Canadiens history to record 200 or more wins for the team last week, joining a spectacular list led by Jacques Plante (314), Patrick Roy (289), Ken Dryden (258) and Bill Durnan (208). Montreal has a six-game winning streak and has won nine of its last 10.

- Injuries recently ended two iron man streaks. San Jose's Joe Thornton played 319 straight games before injuring his shoulder on a clean hit by Ducks defenseman Clayton Stoner on New Year's Eve, and Philadelphia forward Claude Giroux's streak ended at 168 games because of an injury caused when a skate blade cut his leg. Kevlar socks saved Giroux from a devastating injury. The longest active streak belongs to Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano, at 581.

"There's been pockets where it kind of looks like us. You say, 'There it...

Only occasionally this season has General Manager Dean Lombardi seen the Kings resemble the group that blended a strong work ethic, forbidding goaltending and staunch defense to win the Stanley Cup twice in three seasons.

"There's been pockets where it kind of looks like us. You say, 'There it...

(Helene Elliott)

- The Sabres are in a 1-7-1 slump and have been outscored, 41-15, in that span. Their penalty killing was especially bad in a 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday, failing three times in the first 11:18. "Babies wielding pacifiers are more lethal than Buffalo's short-handed squad," wrote John Vogl of the Buffalo News. Ouch.

- Minnesota Wild players said they hit rock bottom in a 7-1 loss Saturday at Dallas — their largest margin of defeat this season — but what if they haven't? The Wild has lost seven of its last nine games to fall to 11th in the West. Worse, it has lost its identity as a hard-working, competitive team.